Nigeria’s government denied claims by the main opposition party, PDP, that it froze the bank accounts of their vice-presidential candidate.
The People’s Democratic Party said in a statement on Saturday that the bank accounts of Peter Obi, his wife, family members and their businesses had been blocked “by agencies” of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. Obi is the vice presidential choice of Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate in February elections.
Here was a tweet from PDP official verified handle claiming the freezing of their candidate’s account. But this has now been refuted.
1. Freezing of Peter Obi’s Account: We condemn in strong terms the stoppage of transactions on all accounts belonging to our Vice presidential candidate, @PeterObi, wife, his family members and their businesses by agencies of the @MBuhari failed administration. pic.twitter.com/nuHOhjUruJ
— Official PDP Nigeria (@OfficialPDPNig) December 8, 2018
The allegation is a “fairy tale,” Garba Shehu, a presidential spokesman, said on Twitter on Tuesday. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission also denied in statement that it took any action against Obi.
Buhari came to power in 2015 vowing to clamp down on endemic corruption. Critics have accused him of using his anti-graft campaign as a pretext to target political opponents.